Katja van der Kwast
Kateyes
Welcome to the alchemist world of Katja van der Kwast.
My journey began in childhood with a love for drawing and painting, you could find me anywhere with my sketchbook drawing, also on holidays. Art has always been my first love and subject at school, which eventually led to a creative foundation as Fashion Graphic Designer. Followed by various classical and contemporary art techniques through (master)classes and fine art photography.
As a high sensitive person from childhood, I noticed everything: the finest threads, the feelings I could read, the connectivity of everything, fascinated by the depth behind the obvious. With a combined French hugenotes/Indonesian ancestrial background I have a fascination for the unseen depth, history and mythology of the worldwide connecting threads from the past into the present. The interconnectivity of everything.
” Omnia vivunt, omnia inter se conexa"
Everything is alive, everything is interconnected
~ Cicero ~
In my photograpy, art, history, symbolism, mysticism and literature are connected in a delicate, timeless dance. My work is a visual odyssey, a tapestry woven from moments suspended between the past, present and future.
With each image I explore the duality of existence, revealing hidden connections worldwide, crossing countries, cultures, religions and myths, in places you might never expect. My art is not only to observe, but to evoke connection, telling stories of the the world and it's soul. Gently inviting you to pause, reflect and feel, to step into a world beyond the surface.
I am highly inspired by Dualism, due to my ancestrial Indonesian/French Huguenots background. Dualism is the principle of life that recognizes the coexistence of opposites (light and shadow, known and unknown, matter and spirit). By this my art becomes a mirror, otherworldly but familiar if you're willing to explore. Influenced by my travels and a deep fascination with the interconnectedness in history, nature and humanity, I weave this to a focal point where myth and memory intertwine. Where worlds meet, capturing the fragile threads that link the tangible to the intangible.
Each photographic series is a standalone chapter in an ever-evolving story, a visual mythology where I invite you to dream, to question and to wander into a realm where boundaries dissolve and time blurs into meaning, if you let it in.
My art is more than an aesthetic art form, it is a mirror of the unseen, a whisper of forgotten stories, present and future of a vision of worlds yet to be discovered.
Katja van der Kwast is a photographer and PA.
Katja started her career in Fashion Graphic design. But changed course due to career moves to PA C-level (legal) support. Art coming at the first place, she graduated at the Nederlandse Academie voor Beeldcreatie and followed several (master)classes in photography to extend her skillset. In past years several publications have followed at Zoom.nl.
Recurring themes in her work are mythology and interconnectivity: transcending past, present, future worldwide. Which she translates into one focal point within each image. She uses various photography and blending techniques. The connectivity of the world resonates in her work.
Katja van der Kwast lives and works in Hellevoetsluis.
